Cooking oil sales have risen at Hong Kong supermarkets and some stores in northern border districts amid food safety concerns prompted by a recent scandal in mainland China.
In Sheung Shui and Yuen Long, more mainland visitors were seen shopping for cooking oil, while online retailer HKTVmall saw sales rise 14 per cent over a week.
The commodity became a talking point on the mainland in early July when trucks were suspected of using the same tankers to carry fuel and cooking oil without cleaning them between journeys, triggering an investigation by authorities.
Staff at a pharmacy in Sheung Shui and a grocery store in Yuen Long said they had noticed an increase in mainland visitors buying cooking oil since the scandal erupted.
The Environment and Ecology Bureau on Thursday said there was a stable supply of edible oil on the local market. It added that it would closely monitor the situation and liaise with suppliers and retailers to quickly respond to any potential issues.
The Beijing News, a state-backed outlet, published an investigative report on July 2 that claimed some trucks in Hebei were using the same tankers to transport cooking oil and fuel without cleaning them in between to cut costs, with the matter considered an “open secret” among the industry.
The report named two companies – a subsidiary of state stockpiler Sinograin and private conglomerate the Hopefull Grain and Oil Group.
State broadcaster CCTV said a week later that the State Council had set up an investigative team involving several government bodies to tackle the matter.
The scandal left many in a state of shock, with some on social media saying they assumed cooking oil would have dedicated transport trucks and others expressing anger towards regulatory authorities overseeing such matters.
“I have no idea I had consumed such oil for years,” a user on Weibo, the mainland’s answer to X, said.
“Even if I buy imported [cooking] oil, how about the chips and other fried foods?” the user said, implying those foods were made with problematic oil.
Some consumers advocated buying cooking oil in Hong Kong on Instagram-like Xiaohongshu, with one user posting a photo of a bottle of peanut oil made in the city and describing it as “liquid gold nowadays”.
Another said they had bought six bottles of Hong Kong brand oil for HK$141 (US$18), adding: “They are a bit expensive, but food safety matters”.
Supermarket chain ParknShop and online retailer HKTVmall said they had noticed a recent increase in cooking oil sales, with the latter recording a 14 per cent rise in the second week of July compared with the week before.
Both companies, along with another supermarket, Wellcome, said they had sufficient cooking oil inventories and stable supplies.
“Customers can purchase [cooking oil] with ease,” a Wellcome spokesman said.
Kitson Yang Wing-kit, chairman of the Legislative Council’s food safety and environmental hygiene panel, also brushed aside any supply concerns and said the city had a sufficient stock of cooking oil.
